A mountain of thousands of unused PPE kits have been dumped near a nature reserve – with councillors baffled how they were fly-tipped without anyone noticing.
Shocking pictures show hoards of what are thought to be aprons and face masks left in an enormous heap in the New Forest town of Calmore, bordering Testwood Lakes Nature Reserve and AFC Totton Football Club.
The unexpected discovery was uncovered at a Hampshire County Council (HCC) meeting, where it was revealed the ‘large scale’ littering had taken place.
The equipment is thought to have been discarded during the Covid pandemic for being ‘substandard’.
Furious committee members are demanding to know how such a huge example of fly-tipping could have gone unnoticed, with council chiefs unsure where the items came from, nor who owns the land or the PPE kits.
A mountain of thousands of PPE containers were dumped near a nature reserve, leaving councillors ‘horrified’ and questioning whether they were discarded during the pandemic for being ‘substandard’
Shocking pictures show hoards of aprons and suspected face masks left in an enormous heap in the New Forest town of Calmore
The unexpected heap was found in Calmore, bordering Testwood Lakes Nature Reserve and AFC Totton Football Club
HCC have contacted the Environment Agency to work out whether the protective gear was left during the pandemic because it was defective.
During the Covid pandemic the Department for Health and Social Care spent £12billion on PPE – but the allocation of contracts and purchasing of medical clothing has been under criticism.
In 2022 the government revealed DHSC lost 75 per cent of its first year budget to inflated prices and defected kit – including £4billion of unusable PPE which was set to be burned ‘to generate power’.
The cost of storing unused equipment in warehouses hit an eye-watering £770,000 per day last year.
Now, a report from the HCC Regulatory Committee meeting, revealed the discovery was made following an investigation by New Forest District Council into use of land at Little Testwood Farm Caravan Park, Hampshire.
The report read: ‘Following their own investigations into the use of land as a caravan park, New Forest District Council reported the large-scale storage of packs of old PPE.
‘It became apparent that thousands of packs of medical aprons had been dumped on the land with no obvious signs that they were being protected or stored for some future use.
‘The concern is that they have been dumped with no intention of removal to a proper facility.
‘The EA have been contacted to see if they can determine where the PPE originated and whether it was discarded by a Health Trust as substandard during the Covid procurement.
‘Enquiries have been made with Land Registry to ascertain land ownership, although this has flagged up a possible HCC link as we are mentioned in one clause in relation to a s106 Agreement.’
Committee members were left bemused at how such a huge example of fly-tipping could have gone unnoticed
An aerial view shows the vast extent of the dumping as mountains of PPE containers are visible
HCC have contacted the Environment Agency to work out whether the protective gear was left during the pandemic
Councillor Peter Latham, who is chairman of the Regulatory Committee, said he and fellow members were shocked when they were made aware of the dumping.
‘It was a surprise to put it mildly – a reaction of horror,’ he said.
‘That something like that could have happened in Hampshire and nobody knew about it.
‘It looked to us just like the masks, but there could be aprons as well.
‘It should have been properly disposed of, probably to a recycling centre.
‘We don’t know where it came from and who put it there.
‘Clearly it shouldn’t have been dumped there – we’re looking into the land registry to see who owns the land to see what was agreed between those who dumped it.
‘Ideally we wish to know who owns the PPE in the first place, who was responsible for disposing it, why they disposed of it there.’
A council officer told members that the PPE kits were ‘hidden away’, adding: ‘It is a really good example of where there has been an illegal dumping of waste.’
Mr Latham, who has been chair of the Regulatory Committee for six years, continued: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.
‘None of us have.’
The council have now launched an ‘enforcement activity’ with the Environment Agency, police and New Forest District Council to find out further details.
Julian Lewis MP for New Forest East said: ‘The unauthorised disposal of such a huge quantity of medical aprons should be relatively easy to investigate and its history traced.
‘One long term lesson from all this is that never again should the United Kingdom be caught without strategic reserve stocks of protective medical clothing.’
An EA spokesperson confirmed they were due to visit the site next week, adding: ‘We are unable to comment further in order to not prejudice any investigations or subsequent enforcement decisions.’
MailOnline has contacted Hampshire County Council, the Environment Agency and New Forest District Council for comment.
